Rainy Day Come Around
by goodnightmush
Summary: Olivia finally gets a day off. She spends time thinking about a lot of things. But mostly Peter. Luckily he shows up on this rainy day to keep her company. Disclaimer: I do not own Fringe.


Post LSD (3x19)

Agent Dunham had the day off. It was a rare occasion but Olivia cherished them when they came along. A day to spend catching up with Rachel, or maybe take Ella to the amusement park—as long as there was a solid agreement that it would be roller coaster free.

But today was different. Rachel and Ella were out of town and these were the times when Olivia realized most that she had no real _girlfriends_. Sure Astrid was a great co-worker but they weren't exactly all the buddy-buddy outside the lab. Come to think of it Olivia wasn't all that buddy-buddy with anyone.

She had been woken up by her body clock at six o'clock as usual, a day off wasn't about to change that. If it weren't for her regular routine she probably would have been woken up by the rain anyway.

She sat at her kitchen table with only the crumbs of her toast left on her plate. She had probably been sitting there for a good half hour just staring at the bowl of green apples in front of her. Her sketchpad still sat on the table with the ominous picture of this man she knew little about. She flipped it to a new page and stared at it blankly with her pencil in her right hand. Olivia had been sketching more often recently. It didn't so much relieve her stress but it did express her inner most thoughts. Those things way in the back of her mind that she was so fearful of previously. And though she had faced her fears when Peter and Bell had come to save her, they were still there. Just because she wasn't afraid to move forward didn't mean she didn't still have fears.

There was something comforting about being able to express some of these suppressed fears through doodles. Well, Olivia called them doodles, but they had actually become quite impressive. She pushed her plate of what used to be toast to the side and pulled the bowl of green apples towards her to get a better look. She began to sketch them to pass the time. But in fact she wasn't too focused on her doodling. Her mind was wandering and these days it often wandered to the same one thought; Peter.

Ever since her and Peter became a couple—it was still strange to use that word—he had been consuming her every thought even more so than before. The past two years her thoughts occasionally stumbled on Peter, slowly progressing from admiring his intelligence and whit to imagining what it would be like to be with him. Now that they were together she didn't have to wonder anymore, and with Peter she had a newfound sense of comfort and understanding that almost felt foreign to her. She hadn't had this security with Agent Scott. Sure, John was protective—he was an FBI agent—but so was she. His demeanor was defensive and protective just like Olivia's, and there wasn't anything particularly comforting about that.

With Peter she felt secure, not simply that she had "back-up". She could confront her fears knowing that if she failed he would be there to help her pick up the pieces. She knew he would for lack of better words _catch her when she fell._

Though, Olivia Dunham had no intention of falling.

Her thoughts returned back to the sketchpad in front of her. A fully shaded apple had appeared on the page. Staring at her doodle and back at the bowl of apples she thought about how when you cut an apple in two in photographs or cartoons it always displayed the apple as perfectly symmetrical, the two sides mirroring each other. But looking at her drawing and back at the apple she knew this was not the case. In reality the two sides were just slightly different. Maybe one extra seed on one side, or a bruise on the other. It wasn't that the apple looked at all disproportioned or strange, it just wasn't perfect. The two sides, though not identical, made the apple whole. The differences balanced out.

Caught up in her thoughts and the sound of the rain pattering on the window she almost didn't hear her phone buzz from her room. A smile washed across her face when she saw Peter's name on the screen.

"Hey." she answered smiling.

"Hey." replied Peter softly. His voiced always calmed Olivia down, not that she needed it now, but it was still nice. "So, I was thinking maybe a walk in the park on our day off?" he continued.

"You do realize it's pouring. Buckets of rain are streaming down my windows."

"Am I hearing this correctly? _Rain_ is going to stop Olivia Dunham from walking in the park with her boyfriend." Peter replied with a smirk that Olivia could practically hear through the phone.

"Nice casual placement of the term boyfriend." She laughed quietly, "and I was just stating the current weather conditions nothing stopping me from seeing you."

"I'll pick you up in ten, brave one."

After saying goodbye Olivia hung up and retrieved her boots from the closet. In precisely ten minutes Peter arrived at the door wielding a large golf umbrella.

"You are certainly prepared." Olivia said trying to hide her laughter.

"I couldn't bear the thought of buckets of rain touching your poor skin." Peter replied with a chuckle.

"My father used to remind me that I wasn't made of sugar and therefore wouldn't melt." Olivia said. Whenever Olivia reflected on her past she always got that same look in her eyes. Not so much longing that she could redo something but nostalgia for the good things she missed. Peter knew she missed her father.

"Well, you can't be too careful," Peter said stepping a foot into the house and lowering the umbrella. "You're awfully sweet." She gave him a half smirk out of the cheesiness of that statement while he laid a hand cupping her face. As soon as his hand touched her, Olivia's smirk disappeared. Peter leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips. Olivia leaned in to the kiss and brought her hand to meet his. Slowly Peter's lips moved away from hers and made their way to her cheek then down her neck. Olivia ran a hand through his damp hair and let out a quiet gasp. Peter stopped kissing her only to bring his face back to hers and rub his nose to her forehead.

"Hi." Peter whispered.

"Hi." Olivia quietly responded. "How about that walk."

With that Peter took her hand and they made their way out the door. He pulled her closer to him so that the umbrella would cover them both. Olivia didn't mind the rain but she took this opportunity to be close to Peter as they walked down the sidewalk. She didn't need the protection but she liked it an awful lot.

She knew that most things in life she didn't need, but balance was one of them. As she leaned into him while they walked, she rested her head near his shoulder. He held a firm posture as they kept on and Olivia knew she had found balance.


End file.
